Menu

Category Archives: Women

It’s holiday time but I haven’t read much on the subject so far except “Journey Into Light” which is linked to below. It was a fun read, all about the traditions of mid-winter, Christmas and Advent, and the Goddess culture. You won’t want to miss it.

Other offerings today include issues of women in film, women in gaming, women as writers, women (and men) in rock n roll, and all sorts of other interesting reads. So peruse my list while you’re having your coffee or tea and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Photo via Variety

From Variety: Oscars Best Actress Race: Where’s the competition?
Favorite quote: “This is a result of the way Hollywood now does business. Women are an endangered species across all genres of the film industry, in both big movies and small. On the blockbuster side, studios continue to obsess over mega-budget franchises, where women are treated as an after-thought (see Glenn Close in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” or Keri Russell in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”). No matter how many hits there are on the scale of “The Hunger Games,” “Maleficent” or “The Fault in Our Stars,” male executives still cling to the outdated belief that male audiences won’t pay to see a girl headline a movie, because they can’t relate to female protagonists.”
Note: Of course, Wild is mentioned in this piece and it’s a book that I was completely immersed in when it first came out in 2012. I read it during a difficult time in my life and it resonated so soundly with me as it has with others. I hope the movie does it justice.

Favorite quote: All of it. Every.Single.Word.
Note: This is actually a video but it’s the thing I enjoyed most in my reading and online surfing in the past couple of weeks. How inspired was this to have these two icons interview each other? Patti Smith is in my opinion one of the most creative, free-speaking women of any generation and David Lynch is a visionary film maker. Watching this was heaven.

From NPR: Your Adult Siblings May Be the Secret to a Long, Happy Life
Favorite quote: “The benefits can carry into old age. The literature on sibling relationships shows that during middle age and old age, indicators of well-being — mood, health, morale, stress, depression, loneliness, life satisfaction — are tied to how you feel about your brothers and sisters.”

From The Guardian: The gaming journalist who tells on her internet trolls – to their mothers
Favorite quote: “It was just a way to try to reach a resolution, to productively teach young boys it’s not okay to be sexist to women, even if they’re on the internet,” she says, “that they are real people and that there should be actual consequences for that.”
Note: Good for her! Moms will kick those boys asses.

Photo via The New York Times

From The New York Times: Greil Marcus’s History of Rock n Roll in Ten Songs
Favorite quote: “Every great, enduring rock song is like a cell in our cultural memory. A molecule of our shared experience containing not just an incredible performance but also a shared desire for something — love, money, sex, peace, rebellion, power, freedom — some intensely held desire.”

Note: Agreed!

and alsoWhat You Learn in Your Forties
Favorite quote: “In Paris, it’s when waiters start calling you “Madame” without an ironic wink. The conventional wisdom is that you’re still reasonably young, but that everything is declining: health, fertility, the certainty that you will one day read “Hamlet” and know how to cook leeks.”

From Flavorwire: 35 Susan Sontag Quotes on Art, Writing, and Life
Favorite quote: “To me, literature is a calling, even a kind of salvation. It connects me with an enterprise that is over 2,000 years old. What do we have from the past? Art and thought. That’s what lasts. That’s what continues to feed people and give them an idea of something better. A better state of one’s feelings or simply the idea of a silence in one’s self that allows one to think or to feel. Which to me is the same.”

From Feminism and Religion: Journey into Light
Favorite quote: “I experienced these traditions first hand when I lived in Germany. In the Bavarian town of Kirchseeon, just east of Munich, mummers in hand-carved wooden masks perform the “Perchtenlauf,” a wild torchlit procession through the winter forest to awaken the dormant nature spirits and call back the dwindling sun. These processions centre around a female figure called Perchta or Holda, possibly an ancestral memory of an ancient Goddess of light and darkness.”

Because it’s holiday time and because this photo grabbed my attention and made me want to lick the screen, I’m adding a recipe this week. No, I haven’t made this but I want to. Doesn’t it look scrumptious?

The Featured Book List is from Samuel Snoek-Brown, the author of Hagridden which I loved and reviewed here. I think this book list is really great because it’s an “alternative” list, by which I mean an alternative to the best sellers lists that we see everywhere. (Although I think many should be on the best sellers list!) I’ve read a few of the books he mentions and they will be in a post I’m planning about my 2014 book reading year. Trust me, this is a great list.

Featured poem is “White Birches” by Jennifer Martelli in video format narrated by Dave Bonta. I love video poems and this one was especially enjoyable. I hope you like it too.

It’s Black Friday – the unofficial official first day of shopping for the holiday season for some people, but not all. If the thought of hordes of people pushing and shoving and grabbing for more and more stuff in malls and big box stores doesn’t appeal to you, you’ve come to the right place. You can watch all that drama later on YouTube and meanwhile make plans for a leisurely walk down Magazine Street or the smaller side streets of the Quarter or in a myriad of stress-free and friendly local shops around town tomorrow. In the spirit of encouraging New Orleanians to shop local, I’ve asked a few local women to tell us about their favorite shopping spot and/or favorite go-to gift. There are some great recommendations here and I’ve already visited a couple of them myself. Opt for a more friendly and civilized shopping experience this year – locally!

Suzanne Pfefferle

“For special occasions and Christmas, I often give my fiancé something from Perlis (he has a penchant for bow ties). He’s from Colombia and moved here a couple of years ago, so he’s building his collection of NOLA things! And, he wears scrubs everyday for work, so he likes to dress up every now and then.”

I’m a quilter, as are the other women in my family. My favorite place to shop for them is Mes Amis Quilt Shop, off Robert E. Lee on Spanish Ft. Blvd. Great modern fabrics and owner Denise Taylor has the best service ever.

Fleurty Girl is my favorite place to shop for gifts because there’s something for everyone and the sales associates are knowledgeable and honest. There are books, housewares, high-end gifts, inexpensive trinkets, shirts, presents for babies, gifts for people you don’t know well, and the list goes on. The associates — from Lauren “Fleurty Girl” LeBlanc herself on down — try their best to help customers, whether that means pulling merchandise down, calling other stores, taking suggestions for new products, or anything else. I never leave Fleurty Girl empty handed.

—Megan Braden-Perry, Freelance Writer and New Mom

Dawn Carl

As someone who never seems to know exactly what to get folks for Christmas, along with the fact that I hate getting things I simply can’t use, and know others do as well, I often do “homemade” gifts. Cookies, pies, fudge, candy, mixes and more!!
There is an amazing shop in the French Quarter that I simply LOVE. The Spice & Tea Exchange of New Orleans at 521 St. Louis Ave. The fact that I can go in there, and choose how much or how little of a spice I want rocks! And don’t even get me started on the teas!! So many to mix and match…tea bags, tea leaves, and everything you need to make the perfect cup of tea. Bags of spices that I use for everything from sachet’s to Apple Pie!

Making a small basket of natural spices in the raw, along with with recipes, and mixes and giving them at Christmas, I know will be a welcome gift every time, even if it’s just for the scent alone.

— Dawn Carl age 51 resident of NOLA for almost 25 years…. Pro Photographer, Professional Genealogist, Mother of one.

DJ Soul Sister

My favorite holiday gift is always going to be vinyl records – for ME. Just kidding! I love to give the gift of music, and concert tickets, record store gift certificates, or even a biography or autobiography about an interesting musician are some easy and fun ways to do it. I love to help people get music for themselves and for others, so every year I throw a little party called The Holiday Crate Dig at one of my favorite local record stores, Domino Sound Record Shack. This year, it’s the 8th annual event, and it’s on Sunday, December 14 from 3-5pm. Everyone’s invited!

There are so many local favorites but my go to that gets the job done is Aunt Sally’s Pralines shop because I love sharing anything food related from here.
I love pralines and so do relatives and friends out of town. I pick up pralines and many of the other great goodies the store carries. Wish I could send them a sample of all of our great local foods but this is a good sampler to get them coming back for more.

Like this:

Happy Sunday, all! I’ve been reading blogs quite a bit in the last couple of weeks (as usual!). Blogs, especially personal ones, can be really interesting and enlightening. Bloggers can make you see things from a different point of view and make you think in ways you may not have considered before. I like reading writers who live in other states, countries, and in alternative ways. Some of today’s offerings are nice representations of all that. I hope you enjoy.

From The Dark Mountain Project: Why I Live in a Shed: A Sideways Response to the Housing Crisis
Favorite Quote: “I could tell her about all the things I wanted to do with my wild and precious life. How I wanted to go exploring. To see with my own eyes all the wonders of the world. To ride camels and climb mountains, test myself against the elements, find my own limitations, make my own mistakes. And then, when I had finished wandering, I wanted to come home and write love songs and death poems and books about fear, because I’d felt love and I’d touched death and I’d faced oceans of fear and found oceans of courage, and, frankly, after all that life I didn’t want to go inside and sit in an office working to prop up someone else’s failing economy.”

From Ludica: A Brief History of the Crêpe
Favorite Quote: “I discriminate a lot when it comes to food and drink, but when it comes to the crepe I’m all about love and acceptance, wide hearted, wide armed, wide eyed, and wide mouthed.”

From Ally Malinenko’s blog: The Beat Goes On….Unless You’re in Hollywood
Favorite quote: “And since then many of the women of the Beat Movement have been re-fashioned as Muses, there to inspire the brilliant men they found themselves around. Their role was to be passive, attractive, to keep their mouth shut and their eyes open and maybe, just maybe they might learn something. And this role was not specific to the Beats.”

From The Guardian: Why Must the “best new writers” Be Under 40?
Favorite Quote: “Sometimes the literary bitcoin is just life: some people have more to say aged 50, than at 30; for others it’s the opposite. But what about the writers who are slowed down because they have to do a day job? What about the authors (mainly women) whose writing time is interrupted for long periods by care for children, or relatives? “

From HuffPo: 10 Ways Introverts Interact Differently With the World
Favorite Quote because it is so me!: “Most introverts screen their phone calls — even from their friends — for several reasons. The intrusive ringing forces them to abandon focus on a current project or thought and reassign it to something unexpected. Plus, most phone conversations require a certain level of small talk that introverts avoid. Instead, introverts may let calls go to voicemail so they can return them when they have the proper energy and attention to dedicate to the conversation.”

Our featured book list is from Epic Reads: 25 Adult Books for Fans of YA. I’m not much of a YA fan but, honestly, I haven’t read much of the genre at all. Several of the books on this list look interesting so this may be my bridge into wading into more YA waters.

Featured poem is by Marilyn Cavicchia, a poet I’ve been following online for a long time. She posted this the other day and I just loved it! I think you will too.

Keep This To Yourself
By Marilyn Cavicchia

Anyway, I don’t believe in
whiskers on kittens, gratitude
journals, fluffy slippers, or
any of those Martha Stewart

Good Things or whatever
it is that Oprah knows
for sure. I’m a crank,
and I’m meaner than I look.

But I know and you know
that there are still
lowercase, non-italic
(Roman, let’s say)

good things in this world,
and it is still worth
being here, if for no
other reason than to see

what happens next–even if
that thing is terrible
and you can’t stop it, so
it keeps you up at night

or it wakes you up just
before your alarm goes off.
Look, I’m not an optimist.
The power of my positive

thinking? It could maybe,
on a good day, light up
Duluth. Not even. Bemidji,
let’s say. Maybe just

a bar in Bemidji, some dark
little place with whiskey,
beer, and Paul Bunyan. Here
I am, struggling over this

on my couch in Chicago,
and there you are, wherever
it is that you are. If I
could, I’d meet you at that

The theme that emerged from this edition of Hot Reads is women who know who they are and are unapologetic. I love that. I love a woman who doesn’t follow the crowd, who goes her own way. Women like New Orleanian Dawn DeDeaux, actor Frances McDormand, and the iconic Janis Joplin.

Enjoy!

From the New York Times: A Star Who Has No Time for Vanity
Tagline: Frances McDormand, True to Herself in HBO’s ‘Olive Kitteridge’
Favorite quote: “We are on red alert when it comes to how we are perceiving ourselves as a species,” she said. “There’s no desire to be an adult. Adulthood is not a goal.”
Note: I like this woman’s attitude; she’s fierce and definitely her own woman. Her acting skills belong in an elite league of strong women actors that, for me, include Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, and Lupita Nyong’o. If you haven’t seen Laurel Canyon, you must!

Photo via Flavorwire

From Flavorwire: The Shocking True Story of My Life With a Flip Phone
Favorite quote: “And ultimately, not everybody has a smartphone. For one thing: they’re really expensive. I’ve been looking into it, and the initial expenditure is shocking to me. How do people afford and/or justify it? Then, regarding Apple products, it’s a lose-lose situation of predetermined obsolescence and keeping up with the Joneses, every year.” and “I find the addictive qualities of the smartphone, and how they’ve changed the way that people are present in public in cities to be somewhat disconcerting.” and…….THE WHOLE ENTIRE ARTICLE.
Note: I really liked this piece because I now know there are other anti-iPhone people like me out there. And, of course, I love that this young woman feels absolutely no peer pressure to have the latest technology.

And speaking of phone addictions…..

From HuffPo: 7 Reasons to Banish Your Phone From the Bedroom
Favorite quote: “A study published in the journal Nature last summer by Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, M.D., Ph.D., revealed how the artificial blue light emitted from electronic devices like cell phones, smartphones and tablets activates arousing neurons within the brain, preventing us from feeling sleepy.”
Note: I love my iPad mini and I often take it to bed with me at night and read. There’s no doubt in my mind that the longer I read the less I feel like sleeping. Lately, I’ve been choosing to read a real paper and ink book instead because I don’t want to become addicted to my iPad anymore than I want to be addicted to a phone. Plus, reading a real book at bedtime always makes me sleepy.
You really have to make a conscious decision to step away from the glowing screen.

Dawn DeDeaux by Paul Costello for The New York Times

From The New York Times: Between Apocalypses (Interview with New Orleanian Dawn DeDeaux about her Prospect .3 installation, Mothership)
Favorite quote: “At 15, Ms. DeDeaux considered herself an old master; by her early 20s, she was making installations out of telephone booths hooked up to CB radio channels. She was also part of the group that founded the Contemporary Arts Center here in 1976, she said, a year after she won the demolition derby in the Superdome.”
Note: This interview was so interesting and really sparked my interest to see Mothership. Yet another unique, independent woman!

The featured Book List is from Book Riot: Peek Over Our Shoulders: What Rioters Are Reading
When I saw Bird Box on this list it gave me the extra push to download and read it. What they said about it: “Bird Box by Josh Malerman: When a bunch of Rioters say a book is so scary that you have to put it in the freezer, you buy the book and gird your girdable parts.” What I say about it: I slept with a light on. If you like apocalyptic stories, this one is for you.

Featured poem is by Dorianne Laux whose work I’ve become somewhat obsessed with over the summer. I’m a Janis Joplin fan so when I read her poem “Pearl” from her book, Smoke, I immediately emailed and asked permission to post it here. She graciously agreed. This poem is so good it makes me shiver. Reading this, I feel like I’m right there in the audience at Monterey in 1967. When a poem, or any piece of writing, can transport you to a different place and time so easily and so convincingly, well, you know it’s exceptional.Here is an MP3 of Dorianne reading “Pearl” and talking about the writing of the poem. Enjoy!

Pearl

She was a headlong assault, a hysterical
discharge,
an act of total extermination.–Myra Friedma, Buried Alive:
The Biography of Janis Joplin

She was nothing much, this plain-faced girl from Texas,
this moonfaced child who opened her mouth
to the gravel pit churning in her belly, acne-faced
daughter of Leadbelly, Bessie, Otis, and the booze-
filled moon, child of the honky-tonk bar-talk crowd
who cackled like a bird of prey, velvet cape blown
open in the Monterey wind, ringed fingers fisted
at her throat, howling the slagheap up and out
into the sawdusted air. Barefaced, mouth warped
and wailing like giving birth, like being eaten alive
from the inside, or crooning like the first child
abandoned by God, trying to woo him back,
down on her knees and pleading for a second chance.
When she sang she danced a stand-in-place dance,
one foot stamping at that fire, that bed of coals;
one leg locked at the knee and quivering, the other
pumping its oil-rig rhythm, her bony hip jigging
so the beaded belt slapped her thigh.
Didn’t she give it to us? So loud so hard so furious,
hurling heat-seeking balls of lightning
down the long human aisles, her voice crashing
into us-sonic booms to the heart-this little white girl
who showed us what it was like to die
for love, to jump right up and die for it night after
drumbeaten night, going down shrieking – hair
feathered, frayed, eyes glazed, addicted to the song –
a one-woman let me show you how it’s done, how it is,
where it goes when you can’t hold it in anymore.
Child of everything gone wrong, gone bad, gone down,
gone. Girl with the girlish breasts and woman hips,
thick-necked, sweat misting her upper lip, hooded eyes
raining a wild blue light, hands reaching out
to the ocean we made, all that anguish and longing
swelling and rising at her feet. Didn’t she burn
herself up for us, shaking us alive? That child,
that girl, that rawboned woman, stranded
in a storm on a blackened stage like a house
on fire.

If someone had told me a few months ago that I’d get some of the best writing advice of my life at a hotel out by the airport, I’d have been suitably skeptical. It’s just that when one imagines a scene filled with award-winning authors, aspiring wordsmiths, and a sizeable contingent of steampunks and Chewbacchanalians, the Hilton on Airline Highway is probably not going to be the first place she thinks of. Not that the Hilton isn’t a great hotel, of course – just that it’s not that high in the list of wretched hives of scum and villainy. That fact notwithstanding, it turns out that the organizers couldn’t have picked a better spot to house the odd and amazing convergence known as CONtraflow.

Now in its fourth year, CONtraflow is a fan-organized, volunteer-run convention that focuses on science fiction and fantasy in literature and art. It’s a small convention (for right now, at least), but a robust one. This year the gathering boasted 100+ educational panels, parties, and concerts, featuring over 55 well-known names in the sci-fi and fantasy community. The gathering attracts writers, artists, vendors and fans (and everything in between), who mingle and bond over a shared love of geekdom.

At 32, until very recently it was a necessity to keep my geeky interests a secret, lest I be branded a weirdo. Even though pop culture has thoroughly embraced gaming, comic book heroes, and various sci-fi franchises over the last decade, if you’re my age (and especially if you’re female) you probably remember a time when it was just not possible to admit that you read fantasy novels and knew a smattering of Klingon without being ostracized. It’s only within the last couple of years that I started meeting geeks who were proud to share their interests with others, and started to realize that it was OK to be geeky. Meanwhile though, old habits die hard, and I’m still getting used to not being ashamed to buy comic books or profess my love for Settlers of Catan.

So while a large contingent of my comic book-loving, RPG-playing, sci-fi movie quoting friends regularly attend huge and hallowed conventions like Dragoncon and San Diego Comic-Con International, the bulk of my con experience begins and ends with Star Trek conventions with my mother, circa 1990. As you can imagine, I hadn’t revealed my secret to any of my friends – how embarrassing to basically be a con virgin! I was hoping that CONtraflow would give me a decent taste of what it’s like to go to a convention, without the huge crowds and overstimulation. I figured I could work my way up to the crazy stuff if the basics seemed interesting enough.

Luckily, my expectations were right on the money. From the moment the Hilton’s automatic doors sluiced open, enveloping me in brightly printed carpet and the sweet, sweet caress of over-conditioned air, I knew I was home. Two steampunk pirate wenches and an excellent Maleficent walked in with me from the parking lot, and I followed them through the hotel to the registration desk.

I had hoped to attend all three days, but as it turned out, Sunday was my only opening to check out the panels. I explained this to the lovely volunteer at registration, and she gamely recommended the best panels that day, based on my interests. While we were talking, I explained that I was new to this whole “being vocal about being a geek” thing. Without missing a beat, she reassured me that there’s nothing like going to a con – in fact, she’d met her husband at one! I made a mental note to keep my eyes peeled, just in case Destiny happened to be cosplaying that day.

The first panel on my list was “How to Write a Great First Line”, with author and radio talk show host M. B. Weston. Weston’s specialties are fantasy, YA, steampunk and paranormal fiction, and her enthusiasm for her craft was immediately evident as the panel got underway. “Punch, and punch hard!” was the message of the day. During the hour-long open Q&A, Weston shared her experience in crafting first lines made to immediately reel a reader in, and keep them hungry for more. The author explained that first lines were a kind of bait, or a drug, if you will. Keep adjusting the formula as you get to know your readers more. Introducing sensory details, inciting curiosity, and creating a sense of urgency are all ways to get the reader hooked. Most importantly, don’t get caught up on the first line. Keep writing, and let that perfect introduction come to you as you build the rest of the story. You can always go back and edit.

Weston’s talk was so engaging that I found myself staying put through the break to chat with other members of the crowd who’d stuck around to talk about first lines. Before I knew it, the next panel was getting under way. During “How to Promote Yourself & Your Writing”, independent author Ben Herr and author/actor/publisher Allan Gilbreath encouraged the writers in the crowd to start thinking of themselves as brands, and to start getting their messaging out to the right target market. Herr, creator of YA fantasy series Alynia Sky, is a fascinating example of how to be your own best brand ambassador. He shared valuable lessons on what’s worked – and what hasn’t – for him as he’s made it his mission to see his stories travel the globe. Gilbreath’s advice was even more interesting, as he’s had the opportunity to view the process from the writer’s chair as well as from the publisher’s point of view. His tips on how to succeed (and avoid screwing up) were useful and frequently hilarious, including the best thing I heard all day: “Interns are an invaluable resource – and they compost well!”

Despite the great advice had in the first two panels, the next panel I attended was definitely my favorite. Authors J. L. Mulvihill, Rob Cerio, and Kimberly Daniels led a very engaged crowd through an active discussion on “Writing Good Villains”. Between the three panelists, they covered a diverse set of genres, including YA, steampunk, fantasy, sci-fi, and comedy, but also were able to reference villains and plot points from TV, movies, comic books, classic fiction and even non-fiction sources. This created a rich and very accepting conversation, where the crowd felt encouraged to bring up ideas and share their struggles and successes with writing villainous characters. We even talked about how societal norms change our concept of villainy, and how to build a story where the villain is the landscape, or the society, or even the protagonist. Best of all, during the panel, I felt a light bulb switch on in my mind, as a story character I’d been writing and rewriting for a couple of years now suddenly completely made sense.

Afterward the day of awesome panels, I realized that it was pointless to try avoiding the siren song of geeky baubles any longer. As I wound my way through the serpentine field of merch tables, exploring my options, I could almost hear my bank account groaning. Bags laden with new books, I wandered back out to the parking lot, mentally signing myself up for next year’s CONtraflow. Wonder if the Hilton takes Vulcans?
———————————————-
Anna Harris is a New Orleans-based marketing consultant and blogger. You can find her online at Compass & Quill and The Camino Plan.

I’ve been reading quite a bit about feminism and what it means to be a Feminist in today’s world. I think Beyonce’s spectacular performance at the VMA’s a while back helped bring feminism back into the spotlight and sparked some thought and conversation on the subject. The first article on my list is by – who else? – Roxane Gay. And, as is normally the way, I completely agree with her pov. The following two articles from HuffPo are pretty good lists of helpful ideas on how to raise a feminist child.

We’ve also got a New Englander espousing on what makes a true New Englander (sound familiar, New Orleanians?), the reminiscing of a former beauty pageant contestant, and a few other sundry pieces that I enjoyed in the past two weeks along with the featured book list and poem. So without further ado…..

From The Guardian: Emma Watson? Jennifer Lawrence? These aren’t the feminists you’re looking for.
Favorite quote: “This is the real problem feminism faces. Too many people are willfully ignorant about what the word means and what the movement aims to achieve. But when a pretty young woman has something to say about feminism, all of a sudden, that broad ignorance disappears or is set aside because, at last, we have a more tolerable voice proclaiming the very messages feminism has been trying to impart for so damn long.”

From HuffPo: 25 Feminist Lessons for My Sons and 32 Feminist Lessons for my Daughter
Favorite quotes: (From “Sons”) “It is up to us to ensure that the lessons of feminism and gender equality (and all kinds of equality, for that matter) are so deeply rooted in our family’s core that they leak out slowly and constantly — during playdates and in sports and, yes, in the kitchen while we put away the dinner dishes.”(From “Daughter”) “You may have the right to vote, access to birth control and the ability to date who you want, but it wasn’t always this way. Women fought and died for these rights you currently enjoy. And your generation has its own struggles carved out to fight.”

photo via luna luna

From Luna Luna Magazine: I’m a Recovering Teenage Beauty Queen
Favorite quote: “To think that in this day and age, beauty contests still haven’t been laughed out of existence worries me. What could a contestant possibly learn from her experience? Whether she wins or loses, the lesson is clear: either you are superior or inferior to another female. She is your enemy. And value, recognition and, of course, beauty, are the prizes for beating her. There is no shared crown. No camaraderie. No sisterhood.”

From shebooks: Lee Montgomery: New Englanders Don’t Write Blogs (and 20 other things you never knew about the Northeast)
Favorite quote: “New Englanders do not wear those fat rimmed cordoroys, khakis, or Izod shirts. A true New Englander would not be caught dead in penny loafers.”
Note: When I ran across this article I just had to read it because what makes a true New Orleanian comes up locally all the time. I see it on social media and hear it in conversation so often it’s getting to be an eye roll moment for me. But, apparently, it goes on in other parts of the country too and that’s what made this read so fascinating for me. Plus, I know absolutely nothing about the Northeast. I thought they all wore penny loafers up there.

From The Daily Beast: Diane von Furstenberg: Becoming the Woman She Wanted To Be (hat tip to Grace Athas via FaceBook)
Favorite quote: “I didn’t used to talk nearly as much about my mother. I took her for granted, as children do their mothers. It was not until she died in 2000 that I fully realized what an incredibly huge influence she had been on me and how much I owe her.”

Favorite quote: “I didn’t realize it at the time, but there seems to be a default switch in my head that goes to white male authors, and I think/fear that it may also be this way for others (How else do you explain the permanent space Patterson/King/Grisham/Child/Brown seem to have at the top of bestseller lists?).”

From The Rumpus: The Rumpus Interview With “Women in Clothes”
Favorite quote: “I think my sense of my family was that we had no culture, that we were culture-less. I was always seeking other people and other families that seemed to have much more defined, inherited, passed-down culture than mine did. Of course, looking back, that’s completely incorrect. And doing this book—in a way it makes me able to see my own family with a bit more clarity, because it seems to be maybe invisible to you at first.”
Note: Since I recently read this book (my review here) I really enjoyed reading this and gaining a little more insight into their thinking and the logistics of gathering information from the participants.

Featured Booklist from Finding Time to Write: Books Set in Paris.
Because who wouldn’t want to read a book set in Paris selected by a French blogger who’s a damn fine writer herself? Thanks, Marina Sofia!

Photo credit: Charlotte Hamrick

Poem of the week is “Nine Ways of Shaping the Moon” by Robert Okaji, a romantic, sweet poem that I just love.

Nine Ways of Shaping the Moon
– for Lissa

1
Tilt your head and laugh
until the night bends
and I see only you.

2
Weave the wind into song.
Rub its fabric over your skin.
For whom does it speak?

4
Tear the clouds into threads
and place them in layered circles.
Then breathe slowly into my ear.

5
Drink deeply. Raise your eyes to the brightness
above the cedars. Observe their motion
through the empty glass. Repeat.

6
Talk music to me. Talk conspiracies
and food and dogs and rain. Do this
under the wild night sky.

7
Harvest red pollen from the trees.
Cast it about the room
and look through the haze.

8
From the bed, gaze into the mirror.
The reflection you see is the darkness
absorbing your glow.

9
Fold the light around me, and listen.
You are the moon in whose waters
I would gladly drown.

________________________________________________

And, speaking of poems, I’m very excited to have four of mine up at The Poetry Storehouse, an outstanding website featuring new and established poets and beautiful video poems by talented remixers. Check it out!

It’s finally autumn in New Orleans, I think, since we’ve had a couple of cool-ish days and it’s mid-October. The sky today is a blue so blue it’s like looking into infinity and the air is thin and breathable. Ahhhhh…. On days like this all I want to do is sit lie in the backyard and stare up through the trees and daydream. But the crisp, cool days are also great for revving your spirit up, for tackling projects that were too hot to handle in the summer, and (best of all) for spending some time paying attention to YOU and to what nourishes you.

I read an article on Rebelle Society, a cool website I recently discovered, that I just had to share with you. They’ve graciously given me permission to share their list of 8 Wondrous Ways to Restore Your Wild Spirit, part of a longer piece by Victoria Erickson. Sometimes we need to be reminded that the simple things are still the best things for restoring a weary spirit. The entire article is here and I highly recommend it!

1. Garden

Gardeners are cultivators and regenerators, harvesting new life and replacing the old, stagnant energy with new seeds. Dig into the dirt with bare hands and breathe the essence of herbs and flowers into your wise body, for it will recognize them as home. Get earthy and gorgeously dirty.

***

2. Feed on raw food.

Energize, alkalize, and heal your body on a deep, cellular level. Nourish yourself with vibrant greens and fresh juices with nutrients you know the story behind; nutrients that heal illnesses instead of creating them with chemicals born in a lab.

“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison. ” ~ Ann Wigmore

Start buzzing with aliveness from food that is also alive, and feel your body’s wisdom beat with every breath.

***

3. Find live music.

Find the kind of music that makes your soul soar from the sound. From drum circles under ancient trees, to jazz on city streets, to underground clubs that keep people dancing through the night, music’s rhythmic beats exist to tell universal truths that awaken us from everyday hibernation.

Have you ever seen crowds of 60,000 people at music festivals? They sing with the bands under enormous summer skies, erupting into applause, dance, and smiles so large they ache. If that isn’t the wild, primal roar of the human spirit, than I don’t know what is. Find it, because music, my friends, is life.

***

4. Play.

Find the most hilarious person you know, whether it’s over social media, lunch, or the work water cooler and laugh. Even if you only have 20 minutes, take a random car ride to somewhere even more random. Dance to eighties music while you clean the house, paint the inside of your garage neon, or watch a Pixar movie with your favorite kiddo.

Personally, I love swing sets. I don’t care what your age is or how busy you are, play is essential to promote a youthful mind which is dynamic, curious, and enthusiastic, and that will open you to new possibilities which will feed your wild spirit even more. A playful mind is fluid, creative, and of course, wild.

***

5. Make love.

“Despite what you’ve been conditioned to believe, sexual desire is sacred and virtuous. When you and your beloved merge physically and emotionally, you go beyond the boundaries of the ego and experience timelessness, naturalness, playfulness and defenselessness.” ~ Deepak Chopra

Make love like it’s your last night on earth, gasping for air and sanity, frantic under clouds and stars and sheets. The kind of animalistic lovemaking that’s written in books that hypnotizes and captivates. The kind that’s made of heartbeats, intertwined flesh, and fiery, blazing, all consuming passion.

***

6. Get wet.

These are cures that open you in places you forgot could even open, for salt and water are a miraculous mix. Release disappointment through tears, sweat from awesome, bodily pumping movement, and swim in the soft caress of water.

Tell stories of your childhood, of deep rooted pain, of intense loss, of blood and of your greatest loves. Tell them by firelight under violet, star-filled skies, or by sending words into cyberspace. Tell them over cups of strong espresso or glasses of sweet red wine. Tell them with tears and laughter and faith in the human race. Tell them to friends, to lovers, and to strangers.

Everyone has stories that need to be told, and there is always someone to listen. Make sure you tell your stories while you still have the chance.

***

8. Shine.

Show who you are, authentically, and completely unapologetically. Be fearless in your ambitions, goals and decisions. That energy will then spread itself into the universe and boost the human race, for one drop can indeed, raise the entire ocean.

“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the right to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others” ~ Marianne Williamson

And as you work on these wondrous things to restore your wild spirit, do remember that even when you’re still not quite there, you are a miraculous human warrior and that…

“We are always asking for something when we get dressed. Asking to be loved, . . . to be admired, to be left alone, to make people laugh, to scare people, to look wealthy, to say I’m poor, I love myself.” — 28 year old participant

This book is not at all what you expect it will be. When my friend, Harriet, gave me this book I immediately thought “fashion book” which meant, to me, how to dress either for the (upwardly mobile) working world or the fashion world or, maybe, how to dress like one of those many Housewives of Whatever City from those (so-called) “reality” shows. But when I began thumbing through it I saw that the book didn’t appear to be any of those things. It looked quite interesting. And it is.

‘Women in Clothes,’ by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton and over 600 participating women of diverse nationalities and ages is a collaborative wonderland exploring every attitude, judgement, or question about clothes and our relationships to them that you can think of and some you can’t . The book is 514 pages that passed through my fingers rather quickly because almost everything written in it is fascinating. Some of the content is the result of surveys completed by all kinds of women: artists, writers, mothers, activists, students, garment-workers, soldiers, transgendered women, religious women, and many others. You’ll find essays, interviews, poetry, visual collections, snippets of street conversation, and all kinds of other media. I really feel inadequate trying to describe this book so I’ll share some of the chapters and some quotes I flagged while reading it. That should give you an idea of what’s inside this book.

Mothers As Others, Parts 1 & 2 – Participants share a photo of their mother before she had children and tell us what they see. I loved this chapter.

I Do Care About Your Party by Um Adam – Um talks about her clothing style which is wearing a jilbab (loose pants and a long,very loose shirt) and hijab. She talks about what dressing like this means to her in terms of respect for her body and her religion. She says, “God made no mistakes when He made me. He made me perfect. Sorry if I sound arrogant or overconfident, but I am confident about my appearance. Why wouldn’t I be? I was created by the most perfect – my Lord- in perfection, and I don’t need any man, clothing designer, or makeup artist to tell me what is perfect.”

If Nothing Else, I Have an Ethical Garter – Interview with Mac McCelland, Human Rights Journalist – She talks about the textile industry, warehouse and factory workers, and how her work influences her choice of clothing. She also talks about how she doesn’t like to own much stuff. She says, “Then I have some weird disaster issues, like I lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. To me, things that you have are just things you will lose or could lose, so don’t get attached to them.”

Handmade – Participants talk about making their own clothes or re-purposing clothes. Also about women in their families who sewed their own clothing and that of their families’. I liked this comment by Rachel Kushner (author of “The Flamethrowers”, a book I really liked) especially: “My mother is a southern Protestant beatnik who wove see-through tank tops on her loom and wore homemade pleather hot pants. No bra, never shaved her legs. She has waist-length bright red hair. DIY was instilled in me, I guess.”

This Person Is a Robot – “A smell scientist sniffs coats in a busy New York City restaurant’s coat-check closet.” Hilarious!

The Pant Suit Rotation – Interview with Alex Wagner, Journalist and TV Anchor – On the disparity between how men on TV dress and how women on TV are expected to dress.

The Mom Coat by Amy Fusselman – Well, I’m not a mom but I found this essay so interesting and insightful into a world I’ve never inhabited. She says, “The Mom Coat is a sleeping bag you walk around in. It turns you into a pod. I almost cease to be human when I wear it: I am just a shroud with pockets. And, of course, because I have kids, my pockets are always stuffed with Kleenex, hair clips, Goldfish, et cetera. The Mom Coat is like a minivan in that way. You are inside and piloting a receptacle for your kids’ stuff.”

In between essays, there will be chapters dedicated to answers from the survey questions such as “Women Looking at Women”, “Protection”, “Sisters”, and “Do You Consider Yourself Photogenic?” The myriad answers entertained, educated, and surprised me.

There are pages dedicated to a series of items (collections) belonging to individual women such as “Gwen Smith’s concert tee shirts”, “Tara Washington’s knitted hats”, and “Tift Merritt’s handmade guitar straps”. Some of the collections are kind of lame (“floss sticks used over the course of a week” – really?) but most are interesting.

I love that there is no striving for perfection in this book. Every woman is allowed to be herself, to express her own unique style and personality in her own way without apology in this eclectic and satisfyingly original book. It’s like having a conversationn with 639 different women and never getting bored.

Today’s Hot Reads is being brought to you without commentary because I haven’t had time this week to build the post as I usually do. My cat, Fluff, died Thursday after 3 weeks of a strange, debilitating neurological illness that caused paralysis of his back legs. We spent a lot of time at the vet office and a lot of time caring for him. He was the sweetest, most affectionate cat I ever had and he was only two years old. It’s very sad.

Anyway, I did do some late night reading the past week that I want to pass along. Here’s the list:

No book list this week and the poem of the week is actually five by the wonderful poet Luisa Igloria via The Poetry Storehouse. The link includes audio of the poems as well as text. A favorite snippet:

And in the dream

I am always though no longer a girl before the world had its way with me,

always the one listening for the sounds of hidden things.

______________________________

Beginning with today’s post, Hot Reads will be published every other Sunday instead of every Sunday. Have a great reading week, y’all!

Today’s line up of Hot Reads begins with three New Orleans stories featuring the good, the not-so-good, and the really, really horrible.
Then a few pieces I enjoyed about and by women writers and one about a man. The man. Anthony Bourdain. (sigh)

From The New Orleans Advocate: Experts ask if New Orleans’ “Exceptionalism” masks grimmer reality
Tagline: Skeptics say exceptionalism masks many problems
Favorite quote: “When Reed hears his hometown described as exceptional, he said, the speaker generally goes on to cite a litany of cultural images that Reed sees as over-used: Mardi Gras krewes, St. Charles streetcars under a canopy of live oaks, brass bands, Creole cuisine and the Saints.

Often unmentioned are the things that can make life in New Orleans more difficult and more like life in any other struggling city: a low-wage service economy, rising rents, sky-high incarceration rates and gaping income and educational disparities.”
Note: Good piece.

From NOLA.com: Billing for rape: Louisiana sex assault victims often face hefty bills for medical care
Tagline: In Louisiana, victims of sex crimes often are billed for forensic medical exams and related care even though state and federal guidelines require many of these services be provided at no cost to the victim. An advocate and victim spoke with the Times Picayune l NOLA.com about this issue.
No favorite quote. This piece is sickening and disgraceful.

From Fast Company: Anthony Bourdain Has Become The Future Of Cable News, And He Couldn’t Care Less
Tagline: The host of CNN’s Parts Unknown (starting again on Sunday) wants to make a great show–and challenge some cultural assumptions.
Favorite quote: “I’m not looking to rule the world,” he says. “I’m not looking to create a permanent brand. It’s a quality-of-life issue with me. Am I having fun? Am I surrounded by people I like? Are we proud of what we’re doing? Do we have anything to regret when we look in the mirror tomorrow? Those things are huge to me.”
Note: I loved this piece. Full confession: In a parallel universe I am the ultimate Tony Bourdain groupie.

From The Economist: Fare Ladies
Tagline: A new car service offers lifts for women, from women
Favorite quote: “A study in 2010 found that 80% of crashes in New York City that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve male drivers. Women drivers are simply better.”
Note: I think this is a super idea. I always feel uneasy in a cab alone with a male driver.

From The Rumpus: The Rumpus Interview with Jane Rosenberg LaForge
Favorite quote: “There’s just a lot of different scenes here. I mean, when I lived in Los Angeles, there were also a lot of literary scenes, and I wasn’t part of any of them, I just sort of watched. It’s sort of the same thing here. There are a lot of different literary scenes, and I just sort of watch them.”
Note: I love that quote because I could say the same thing. All of her answers were so honest and, sometimes, endearingly awkward that it made me feel an affinity with her. Her answers – way more than the routine questions she was asked – make me want to read her book. Thanks, Rumpus, for introducing this writer to me.

The Fall Issue of Olentangy Review is out and it is just great with some really great flash fiction and poetry. I especially enjoyed Susan Tepper’s three pieces: A Tree in My Sink, White to Blue, and Lake Trees which are all parts of a series of micro-fictions under the heading “Dear Petrov”, set in 18th century Russia. A tidbit: “My skin dry to the touch has dampness between its layers that no amount of petticoats or fires can warm.” AND, I have a little poem in there too. I am very excited to be in OR for the second time and to be included with such talented writers. In the next few weeks an audio version will be up in their Virtual Reading Room. This will be my first mp3 and I’m a bit nervous about it as I don’t much like my voice but…it is what it is. Sometimes it’s good to do things that make you uncomfortable, no? Please do click over and enjoy the wonderful variety that is Olentangy Review.